ENGLISH RAIN

The past few days have been less like Winter and more like Spring. Invigorating weather. I've been able to sleep with my window cracked open at night, without freezing in the process. During the mornings when I take my bike ride, it's usually 50F / 10-11C and sometimes dripping a little.

The other morning it was a light drizzle. It reminded me of the sort of rain that one sees in movies filmed in the UK -- the type of weather I call "English Rain".

We get a lot of that here. And it's not bad: when it is just dripping, you don't really need an umbrella or raingear on -- it's just drizzling enough to barely wet the clothes. A baseball cap keeps the rain from hitting my glasses as I ride.

A few of the local creeks were full of water. Trickling streams became real mini-rivers. One of the creeks off the local trail dumped a load of mud and water over the Trail about a mile or so away.

An unnamed, perennial creek flooded the Trail with water and mud overnight.

The Cedar River has gone from clear to muddy to clear to muddy. During the rainy days we've had here recently there has been a lot of runoff from the local street-network storm drains, which (conveniently) empty into the river in various places.

The Cedar River after snow and rain earlier in February, swollen and muddy.

Graffiti finds its way to the strangest places, in this case a moss covered cottonwood near the water.

A colorful sunrise during a rainy early morning.

Several ducks enjoying the "English rain" we've been having lately.

One creek in particular usually looks like an Alpine ravine -- the creekbed is massive, compared to the amount of water usually running through it.

During the recent spate of heavy rain we had overnight a couple nights ago, that creekbed was full of muddy water.

'Troll Creek', an unnamed creek but it runs through a beautiful ravine that reminds you of something from a fairy tale. A few days after some heavy rain, the usual trickle turned into a roaring mini-river of muddy water.

A shaft of sunlight through the trees near the Cedar River Trail.

One of the last remaining snowmen in the area. :-)

Driving a couple mornings after the snows hit in early February.

Snow turns to slush -- a week or so before Valentine's week, 2017.

A bright sunny morning a few days after the snow was completely gone.

LOOKING FORWARDS TO SUMMER

Right now most of the holidays are past, and the main thing to look forward to is Summer. And if the recent temperatures are any indication, we may have a real good one this year.

Timmy the Cat says hello.

Here's hoping your days are invigorating -- wherever you are.
CC 2-18-2017

A MOOD LIFTING SATURDAY BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY

The past couple weeks, for reasons I don't want to go into here, have been a bit stressful. Saturday night (February 11th), I went to the local thrift store to get a walker for a relative. They had a couple nice ones for cheap prices.

Now, like I've said -- I wasn't in the best of moods... But the lively crowd inside the Goodwill thrift store was enough to pick up one's spirits decently -- it was a lively shopping crowd, with all sorts of people in there.

Colorful Valentine's balloons, early Valentine's morning at a local grocery store.

Some young women were there, dressed in what would have been called "grunge" fashion back in the 1990's (which was a bit surprising, actually), and there were people of all races and socio-economic strata -- all shopping, milling around the busy thrift store around 8 p.m. on a Saturday night.

I went over to the electronics section -- there was a Sony Sports boombox that looked very appealing. But I was there to get a walker, so I went to that section of the store, which was about halfway towards the back wall of the place.

As I was looking over the walkers, I noticed the sound of classical piano coming from the back of the store.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a guy sitting at an old upright piano, playing away. He played delightfully -- Claire De Lune, Fur Elise, Liebestraume, and many other classic piano pieces. Even the broken key somewhere on the right side of the keyboard didn't interfere with his playing.

Soon a small crowd gathered around -- myself included. We all listened, enchanted by the lively music in the back of a thrift store on a dreary Saturday evening.

Some were recording the man playing the piano on their smartphones. The liveliness of the jaunty music, the man's European style cap and fancy style of playing, and the milling crowd all gave the thrift store a festival atmosphere -- which was just what I needed that evening.

A massive Teddy Bear at a local Fred Meyer box store.

As the Valentine's Day holiday approached, one couldn't avoid all the Teddy Bears, Stuffed hearts, stuffed hedgehogs and other little (and gigantic) stuffed animals which were all for sale for people to buy for their lovers in all the stores -- from drug stores to grocery stores to box stores.

I've included a few pics of them here. It's kind of nice when there is a holiday dedicated to love, especially when love seems to be in somewhat short supply in the world today.

This holiday I kept getting reminded of Valentine's Day past -- especially one V-day long, long ago. I kept having to shove it out of my memory.

Here's hoping your February is full of Spring and good cheer.

CC 2-15-2017

AND THEN THERE WAS SNOW!

Three to four inches of snow on a hillside... Winter arrives in the Seattle area once again.

As I mentioned before on this blog, snow is about as rare as hen's teeth here in the Seattle area. North of town they seem to get some snow nearly once or twice every year, but south of the city where I live it's pretty rare.

We had a big snow west of here, in the Burien area, on New Year's Day. But where I live we barely got an inch or so.

But surprise, surprise! Sunday night it began to snow here in my section of the Seattle metro, and it kept snowing. All night. As I write this on Monday morning there is about 3-4 inches of snow outside (8-10 cm).

Snow gracing my backyard, with the distant snow covered trees adding to the Winter feel.

Virgin snow on a suburban city street, soon to be marred by bicycle tires.

This morning (Monday) I went on a ride on my bike, which is very stable even in the snow. I rode down a nearby trail, the Cedar River Trail. At first, pedaling the bicycle wasn't that tough. It takes a couple of minutes to get used to riding in snow, but you get the feel of it -- take really easy turns, use a low gear, etc. It's actually quite pleasant, especially in the morning hours when there are no cars to worry about.

After about an hour I noticed it was really tough pedaling. It was because a couple km down the Trail the snow was a bit thicker, and it began to make this 'disc' on my wheels, a solid circle of snow that constantly rubbed against my brakes. Riding the bike was like doing a leg press.

I definitely got my workout this morning.

I stopped and knocked the excess snow off of my wheels and it was easier after that.

The Cedar River Trail with 3-4 inches of snow -- untouched by foot or bicycle tires around 4 in the morning.

I was the only one on the Trail -- none of the diehard regular bikers were out this morning -- usually I see a few as early as 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., commuting to work via bicycle. But not in the snow, apparently.

There's nothing like the feeling of riding a 10-speed with the front wheel acting like a disc brake that is always engaged.

It was a nice, quiet ride, and aside from it being like a leg press, it was quite enjoyable.

It's now Tuesday a.m. as I finish this post, and there still is some snow on the ground. It's nice to see a bit of Winter, even if it arrives in February.

The Purple Grape after a long snow run.

Snow on my outdoor lights and ornaments, which I've left up because I have a sick relative who missed out on Christmas.

Wednesday morning: I wrote this post in chunks.... Leaving it as is. The snow is still on the ground outside... It will soon be gone, and we'll be back to our typical grey, cold February weather. But for the time being, it is truly Winter outside. :-)

Here's hoping you all are having a great February.
C.C. 2-8-2017